Road maintenance machine



2 Sheets-Sheet l M Q m w W m 1% H iii W INVENTOR. klv

1 A TTORNEY.

3, 1933- R. L. WARD ROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE v Filed Jan. 30, 1931 Aug.8, 1933. R. L. WARD ROAD MAINTENANCE MACHINE Filed Jan. 30, 1931 2Sheets-Sheet 2 KN x Q @UAN i -z. .1 Q r mm WNYW .1 \Nmv w\ I 1 8% NW KNQM Q N% NW N% INVENTOR.

By e

ATTORNEY.

Patented Aug. 8, 19 33 UNITED STATES PATENT? OFFICE 1,921,712 ROADMAINTENANCE MACHINE Rufus L. Ward, Irving, Ten.

, Application January so, 1931. Serial No. 512,395

3 Claims. (01. 37-108) I This invention relates to road and highwaymaintenance machines and it has particular reference to a scarifying anddirt transferring apparatus and the principal object of the inventionresides in the provision of a machine of the character specified adaptedprimarily for removing superfluous dirt from the, surface of a road,preparatory to paving the same or for reducing the surface to a moredesirable form without bringing up a fresh surface and thereby looseningthe soil to any considerable extent.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a machinefor road maintenance having provisions for removing or transferring thesuperfluous material to a more desirable location for the proper gaugingof a road bed, that is to say, the material may be removed from thesides or drain to the crown without manual effort and thus produce adesirable surface devoid of ripples, holes and other defacements in theroad and further provides for more proficient drainage and consequentlymak ing for greater permanence thereof.

Yet another and important object of the inventionresides in theprovision of a machine of the character specified whose constructionpermits of its GffiClBIlt, use in spreading dirt or gravel on new pavingin the process of curing the same, which affords a desirable substitutefor the conventional methods in which the material is spread by manuallabor.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of amachine capable of preparing new roads and highways by reason of theimprovements for primarily breaking the surface and the cooperativeparts which effectively disposed of the superfluous soil and convey itto a point for removal or depositing the same out of the operativerangeof the scarifying blades or scraper blades, as the case may be.

Broadly, the invention comprehends the pro-v vision of a machine capableof attaining the aforesaid and other objects through the medium of acombination of associated and cooperative elements including a conveyeroperating to remove the soil broken by the scarifying blades and anelevator cooperating to receive material from the conveyor and deliverthe same to a point remote from the point of operations; these togetherwith means for raising and lowering the elevator, adjustments forgauging the depth to which the scarifying blades penetrate the soil andsuitable driving mechanism for operating the elements mentioned andtheir associated parts.

With the foregoing objects as paramount, the" i invention has particularreference to its salient features of construction and arran ement ofparts which will become manifest as the description proceeds taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a plan view.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view.

Figure 3 is an end elevation, and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary detail view of the scarifying unit. H

Continuing more in detail with the invention, 1 designates a suitableframe, comprised preferably of channel iron and in support of its forward end, there is provided wheels 2 mounted upon an ax1e3, which ispivotally joined to the frame 1, V of the machine to which may beconnected a suitable draft implement.

With reference to Figure 2, it will be noted that the scarifying unitconsists of two curved beams 5, suspended at their inoperative ends, bymeans of arms 6, the upper ends of which are secured at a while thelower ends thereof pivotally receive the ends of the beams 5 at b.

A draft hitch ,4 is provided in front In support of this arrangement,oblique arms '7 i join the transverse pivotal shaft b at one end andhave their opposite ends rigidly connected to the frame 1. Thus thebeams 5 are capable of adjustment relative to the surface at theiroperativeends and to these ends is applied a plate 8 carrying a seriesof spaced scarifying" teeth 9. These teeth, as apparent in the figuresare directed downwardly at a slight incline so that they might betterpenetrate the surface and the position of the plate 8 is such that thesoil disturbed by. the teeth 9 will be elevated 13 immediately above thescarifying teeth 9 and which arm is rigidly joined to a transverse shaft14. On one side of the frame 1, there is affixed to the protruding endof shaft 14 an upwardly extending arm 15 and to which is connected a rodor metal strap 16," which latter extends rearwardly and is joined't'o alever 17. On the opposite end of the shaft 14, outsideof the frame 1 isa link 18, which joins a'similar link 19, which latter is connected toone beam 5' of the scarifier plate. A link 20 serves the same purpose onthe opposite side of the scarifier plate, as shown in Figure 1. Bymoving the lever 1'7 rearwardly, a pull upon the rod 16 is brought aboutto rotate the shaft 14 through the medium of the arm 15 to which thesaid rod 16 is connected and through the cooperation of links 18 and 19,the points of the scarifying teeth 9 are urged into the ground.

It has been-stated previously that the conveyor 10 receives materialwhich has been lifted by the scarifying plate 8. In this connection itis pointed out that while the roller 11 is an idle roller, the belt 10is driven from its upper end through the medium of roller 21, which maybe seen in Figure l, which roller has a protruding shaft 22, upon whichis mounted a beveled gear 23. A similar gear 24 meshes with the gear 23and is mounted upon a shaft 25, disposed at right angles to the axis ofshaft 22 and upon the opposite end of shaft 25 is mounted a sprocketwheel 26. 1

' A sprocket chain 27 surrounds this sprocket wheel 26 and passingupwardly, it surrounds a similar sprocket wheel 28, mounted upon themain drive shaft 29 of the motor, situated in the housing 30, mountedupon'a subframe 31. An inter-engaging clutch 32 provides a control ofthe conveyor drive described.

Itwill be noted that the rear end of the machine is of substantiallygreater width than the foremost end thereof, hence the wheels 33 arespaced apart and the frame 1' is so constructed .as to accommodate aplatform 34, upon which the operator may stand while attending themachine. At the right of the operators position at the machine, there isprovided an elevator, which is comprised primarily of a lower guide rail35 and which guide rail is normally stationary. The frame or trough 36of the elevator is pivotally joined at 37 to the guide rail 35 and istherefore capable of vertical movement relative to the ground and themanner in which such movement is obtained will be presently described.

Large sprocket wheels 38 are mounted upon shafts 39, whose ends arejournaled in the rearmost portions of the frame 1 and these sprocketwheels engage the lower leads of endless sprocket chains 46 which passover sprocket wheels 41 mounted upon a shaft 42, at the extreme outerend of the elevator and may be seen in Figures 1 and 3. These chains 4cserve a peculiar purpose'in that they afford a means to which a seriesof spaced blades 43 may be secured to elevate material deposited thereonby the conveyor belt 10. 7

'It will be particularly noted in Figure 1 that the lower lead of thechains 40 operate over a suitable floor 44 and since'the chain moves inthe direction shown by the arrows in Figure' 3, the blades 43 areinverted during their movement toward theouter end of the elevator andthus engage and move the material upward toward the discharge end of theelevator. It is important to note in Figure 1 that the floor 44 of theelevator is obliquely cut away at 45. This is done in order that thedirt will fall in increasingvolume as itapproaches the extreme outer endof the elevator, which is a pr requisite in distributing the dirt ontothe crown of a road, to build the same up in accordance withspecifications and'is a most desirable feature of the present invention.

.,With reference to the means by which the elevator is driven, it willbe noted that a stub shaft 46 is journaled in a standard 47, whichstandard likewise affords a pivotal bearing for upwardly extending arms48. There are two sprocket wheels carried by stub shaft 46 and whilethese wheels are unnumbered, a sprocket chain 49 surrounds the largestof these sprockets, as well as a sprocket wheel 50, mounted upon themain drive shaft 29 of the motor, as shown in Figures 1 and 3. A chain51 surrounds the other sprocket wheel on the stub shaft 46 as well as asprocket wheel 52, mounted upon a stub shaft 53, between the upper endsof the upwardly extending arms 48. This stub shaft 53 likewise carriestwo sprocket wheels and the other of these sprocket wheels receives thechain 54, which chain imparts rotation to a sprocket wheel 55, mountedupon the shaft 42 at the extreme outer end of the elevator.

According to the foregoing arrangement of elements, operation of themotor will actuate the chain 49 to rotate stub shaft 46, mounted in thestandard 4'7 and which shaft will in turn actute chain 51, surroundingsprocket wheel 52. Stub shaft 53 is thus rotated, which in turn rotatesthe companion sprocket on the said stub shaft, about which chain 54operates, thus through the medium of chain 54, sprocket 55 is rotated tothereby rotate the shaft 42 at the extreme outer of the elevator.Sprockets 41 are thereby rotated, which will bring about properactuation of the elevator by moving chains 40 in the manner heretoforementioned. 1 To govern the operation aforesaid, a friction clutch 56 isprovided on shaft 42 and has a lever 5'? in attendance thereto.In'addition to this clutch 57, a similar clutch 58 is provided on themain drive shaft29 and has a lever and fork mechanism 59, which may bemore clearly seen in Figure 1. From this description it is clearlyapparent how the motor ac'tuates the conveyor 10, which primarilyreceives the upturned soil, and causes the same to deposit the soil ontothe elevator floor 44 and it further clearly describes the manner inwhich the chains 40, bearing the blades 43, move the soil upwardly tothe cutaway portion 45 of the elevator floor 44 and evenly deposit thesoil at a point remote from'the point of operation, to complete the workof the machine. It is apparent from the foregoing, without specificmention'of 'minor mechanical details that the described operation isrendered possible by the combinationof named elements and theircooperation in the order described.

Regarding the means by which the elevator is raised and lowered,reference is primarily made to Figure l, in which is shown a shaft 60,terminating in a crank 61, adjacent the operators position'on theplatform .34. ,This shaft 60 is transverse with respect to the axis ofthe elevator and a cable 63 is wound thereon at 62 and which cableextends over one of two similar sheaves 64, journalled for rotarymovement'in a fork 65, the latter being integral with an upwardlyextending yoke 66. Braces 67 extend upwardly in an oblique plane andtheir ends are joined to the fork at a common point at 68,

shown in Figures 1 and 3. Another yoke 691s about shaft 60, it is thenpassed over sheave 64, around sheave 69a mounted in the yoke 69 near thedischarge end of the elevator, thence returning around the companionsheave 64 in fork 65 and back again to a point where it is joined at 69bto the yoke. 69 near the discharge end of the elevator.

The leverage thus obtained erator to raise and lower the elevatormanually with comparative ease by revolving the shaft 60 by manipulatingthe crank 61. In so doing, one end of the cable 63 is wound upon shaft60, pulling upon the upper lead of cable 63, and since its other end isfast with the yoke 69 a pull is imparted upon the said yoke, whichbrings the end of the elevator upward.

Since the description of the several elements of which the combinationis constituted embodies to a considerable degree thespecific operationthe parts and their relationship, it is not considered necessary toenter into a detailed explanation of the operation of the machinedescribed, but only to point out briefly the major functions thereof.

In the preferred operation, the machine is drawn along a road or highwayin such manner that the elevator will distributedirt with increasingquantity from a point adjacent the edge of the road or highway to thecrown. The lever 17 is actuated to allow the scarifying teeth 9 topenetrate the surface of the road or any part of the soil adjacent theedge and during the while, the conveyor 10 is receiving the upturnedsoil and conveying the same upwardly, depositing it onto the floor 44 ofthe elevator, immediately under the main frame 1 at its rearmost end.The endless chains 40, carrying the blades 43 upward and depositing thematerial through the opening in the floor 44 provided by obliquelycutting the floor in the manner previously described.

Manifestly, the construction shown and described is capable ofconsiderable modification,

and it is understood that the machine is adapted for use in connectionwith any work of which it is capable and not particularly confined toroad maintenance projects and certain changes and modifications may bemade from time to time as are considered within the scope and meaning ofwhat is herein claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. In a road making and maintenance machine the combination including amain frame and a subframe, a motor carried by said subframe, a series ofearth cutting elements suspended by said mainframe and capable ofadjustment relative to the earth, an endless conenables the opveyorreceiving material dislodged by said earth cutting elements, a secondendless conveyor operating at-right angles to said first conveyor andwhose lower lead is arranged to receive material conveyed by said firstconveyor, an

inclined trough pivotally secured to said main frame and extendingoutwardly and upwardly therefrom, means for adjusting the angularity ofsaid trough and arranged to sustain material moved by said secondconveyor whereby the same may be deposited at a point removed from saidmachine, and means for driving said conveyor from said motor.

2. In a road making and maintenance machine, the combination including amain frame and a subframe, a motor carried by said subframe, a series ofearth cutting elements collectively suspended beneath said main frame,means for adjusting the position of said earth cutting elements relativeto the earth at a point removed from their point of engagement with theearth, a conveyor for receiving material dislodged from said cuttingelements, an elevator, said elevator comprising a second conveyoroperating at right angles to said first conveyor anda trough withinwhich the lower lead of said second conveyor moves, said trough beingpivotally connected to said main frame and camain frame, an elevator,said elevator comprising a trough pivoted to said main frame andextending outwardly. and upwardly with respect to said main frame andhaving a floor whose 1 V outer end is obliquely cut away and an'endlessconveyor whose lower lead travels in said trough, means for receivingand transferring ,material dislodged by said .earth cutting elements 'toa point for discharge onto the lower lead of said elevator conveyorwhereby said material will be moved along said trough to be dischargedata point removed from said machine and means for adjusting the drive ofsaid elevator conveyor in accordance with the movements of said trough.v

